How do laundry shops make money ?

[thairookie]

I have been patronising a local laundry shop whose owners do the washing and ironing themselves. They start working from 9 am in the morning all the way up to 1.00 am in the wee hours. In between, the son will bring the clothing back to their house for washing because the shop is too small.

I have known them for quite some time, and they claim that they're not making enough. They are not lacking customers, as you can see the workload is huge that they have to work until 1.00 am in the morning. They charge 30 baht for wash and ironing of shirts and 40 baht for trousers.

I have suggested to them that they outsource their work to a local factory so that they don't have to stand beside the iron board from 9.00 am to 12.00 am. However, I am told that they make less money if the work is outsourced.

Does anyone here run a laundry ?

[stoneyboy]

They rely on tips from rich Farang like yourself.

[Phronesis]

They wash clothes.

[h90]

30 Baht for a shirt:

Washing is no effort and costs almost nothing in the washing machine.

ironing. I don't know how long a professional who is doing it all the day needs: 1 min?

I guess something between 45 seconds and 2 min.

Lets say 30 shirts per hour. 20 Baht profit, 10 Baht for electric washing powder, etc= 600 Baht per hour. Not great but the double of the minimum salary

[AlexRRR]

It's a job.......some days would be better than others , washing machine does most of the work ironing is extra, if your not paying extra there not to good as business people, my ex apartment laundry started out charging me 40b and by the end of my 6 mths stay had reached 90b, ironing, did it myself.....

I had issues with sweet young laundry girl...she was told by old TGF to not hang my tshirts on coat hangers to throw over the bottom bar, and explanation was given why....yes slowly all my tshirts necks began to widen...she evenly got it after a few hoo harrs....starting with my tshirts were not bought from the local market.

Had the same problem in Cambodia one visit...that time the shoulders looked like they had mega padding in them actually closer to wings.

[Ginkas]

Here in Chiangmai my local laundry lady charges 9 baht per shirt and 12 baht per pair of trousers.

That's washed, ironed and returned neatly folded in a large plastic bag.

Must be good business as there are three laundry shops next to one another and another three just around the corner!

They've all been there for years.

BTW I don't wear 'T' shirts or polo shirts as I can't get them on and off because of shoulder problems, just button up ones.

[razorramone]

It's a job.......some days would be better than others , washing machine does most of the work ironing is extra, if your not paying extra there not to good as business people, my ex apartment laundry started out charging me 40b and by the end of my 6 mths stay had reached 90b, ironing, did it myself.....

I had issues with sweet young laundry girl...she was told by old TGF to not hang my tshirts on coat hangers to throw over the bottom bar, and explanation was given why....yes slowly all my tshirts necks began to widen...she evenly got it after a few hoo harrs....starting with my tshirts were not bought from the local market.

Had the same problem in Cambodia one visit...that time the shoulders looked like they had mega padding in them actually closer to wings.

Wait.... so you're not supposed to hang t shirts on coat hangers? Do you mean when they are wet?

[nong38]

I wonder the same at any shops, there are far shops than are needed to service any population.

Thais think they have an idea and its bound to be a success so they go ahead and do it, they see something popularor selling well and copy it, they dont factor all the costs into the equation, they dont plan ahead, so long as they can pay the next bill, life is great . Yet more and more businesses open and there no more customers.

The best business in Thailand is no business but they have no alternative to trade and hope, there is no safety net here. We are lucky.

[BuddhistVirus]

They wash clothes.

Ha!

[JoeW]

Local laundry lady in my soon charges 6 baht for washing and 5 baht for ironing (no difference between shirt or pants.)

[ignis]

Next Village laundry lady charges 5 baht for washing and 5 baht for ironing shits, short or long sleeves, T-shirts or long pants., phone her and around she comes later in the day, returned the next evening..

Been the same price for passed 5 years

[trainman34014]

Next Village laundry lady charges 5 baht for washing and 5 baht for ironing shits, short or long sleeves, T-shirts or long pants., phone her and around she comes later in the day, returned the next evening..

Been the same price for passed 5 years

Similar in the Northern Boonies; 5 Baht for everything except what they call blankets but i call a Duvet....25 Baht for that. No price changes in nearly 6 years to my knowledge.

[jackr]

Op, they are pulling the wool over your eyes. Dunno where you are but even if it were along Suk, what they're charging is relatively expensive, around mid-level hotel prices. The reason they work long hours and don't want to outsource is because they are raking it in.

[wolf5370]

30 Baht for a shirt:

Washing is no effort and costs almost nothing in the washing machine.

ironing. I don't know how long a professional who is doing it all the day needs: 1 min?

I guess something between 45 seconds and 2 min.

Lets say 30 shirts per hour. 20 Baht profit, 10 Baht for electric washing powder, etc= 600 Baht per hour. Not great but the double of the minimum salary

600 an hour is not twice the minimum wage, 600 a day is!

Most that I see here in CM charge by the kilo rather than the item - 30-40b a kilo. I used to use a local one (with two teenage girls we go through a lot of washing) - 3 sacks (black bin liners) used to cost us about 130baht and they used to do smalls (socks and knickers) free of charge.

[TheSpade]

I used to pay by the kilo and get all my stuff washed for under 100B.

Now the places in my new apartment (and the others around) charges per item for washing and then per item for ironing. Each item has a different price even for washing which to me is just a plan rip off seeing as it's all chucked in a machine.

I'm anywhere between 250B to 300B a week now.

They clearly can't count though as sometimes I'll have literally everything I own in there and it'll be cheaper than the week before where it was just tshirts and underwear.

[innerspace]

Before I bought a machine I was paying 20b for an entire load. Put it in, hit a bar for an hour and head back.

Having a machine will take 5+ years to pay off but is for convenience not savings

20b an item is a very good profit margin. Might open a laundry actually....

[chrisinth]

Up to the beginning of last year, we were paying 600 baht a month per person for unlimited washing and ironing. This was put in in the morning and returned the same evening. Of course you could have gone for the option of pay as you go, but to what end? A real convenience.

Even doing your own washing & ironing mounts up, washing powder, softener, water, electricity and then the time consuming ironing.

[David48]

Here in Chiangmai my local laundry lady charges 9 baht per shirt and 12 baht per pair of trousers.

That's washed, ironed and returned neatly folded in a large plastic bag.

Must be good business as there are three laundry shops next to one another and another three just around the corner!

They've all been there for years.

BTW I don't wear 'T' shirts or polo shirts as I can't get them on and off because of shoulder problems, just button up ones.

Yep, in Bangkok it's a bit more expensive ... though, they are making some nice coin doing it for that.

At 30 B ... the OP is crazy.

[thairookie]

Op, they are pulling the wool over your eyes. Dunno where you are but even if it were along Suk, what they're charging is relatively expensive, around mid-level hotel prices. The reason they work long hours and don't want to outsource is because they are raking it in.

Frankly, I did a survey with a few other shops in my vicinity, and the rates are the same.

Okay, I forgot to mention. I'm the odd customer whose business with the laundry is on "per piece" basis. Most of their customers are on a membership basis, something like 700 baht per month for up to 55 pieces. The cost per item is about 13 baht.

Well, it definitely takes more than 2 minutes to iron a shirt, and more for pants. As for washing, I'm not sure if they throw everything into the machine. But I check the collar and I'm very sure they do make the effort to "scrub" the inside collar with detergent, manually.

[Scully]

Op, they are pulling the wool over your eyes. Dunno where you are but even if it were along Suk, what they're charging is relatively expensive, around mid-level hotel prices. The reason they work long hours and don't want to outsource is because they are raking it in.

Frankly, I did a survey with a few other shops in my vicinity, and the rates are the same.

Okay, I forgot to mention. I'm the odd customer whose business with the laundry is on "per piece" basis. Most of their customers are on a membership basis, something like 700 baht per month for up to 55 pieces. The cost per item is about 13 baht.

That's a massive 15 baht saving if you pay monthly.

[thairookie]

Frankly, I did a survey with a few other shops in my vicinity, and the rates are the same.

Okay, I forgot to mention. I'm the odd customer whose business with the laundry is on "per piece" basis. Most of their customers are on a membership basis, something like 700 baht per month for up to 55 pieces. The cost per item is about 13 baht.

That's a massive 15 baht saving if you pay monthly.

I'm beginning to get the picture. I being the odd customer, the rest of their customers are so-called members. The laundry gets a lot of work because the members throw all their dirty clothes at the laundry for an average of 13 baht per piece.

Edited September 7, 2013 by thairookie

[Kf6vci]

30 Baht for a shirt:

Washing is no effort and costs almost nothing in the washing machine.

ironing. I don't know how long a professional who is doing it all the day needs: 1 min?

I guess something between 45 seconds and 2 min.

Lets say 30 shirts per hour. 20 Baht profit, 10 Baht for electric washing powder, etc= 600 Baht per hour. Not great but the double of the minimum salary

Excuse me, the daily minimum wage is about 300 B. I don't make 300 B/hr most of the time

Well, I knew a lady in Nan who charged 5 B for ironing a shirt. But the job was far from professional. With washing? 10 B.

Dry cleaning of 10 shirts was about 330 B in Lampang. And the ironing was done well.

At 30 B a shirt, I would be tempted to enter this business, provided there is sufficient demand.

At my condo, a local washing salon offers some "membership" deals. Underwear is 5 B, I forgot the other prices - but a few trousers, shirts etc. will be less than 100 B. That entrepreneur would kill to get 30 B/shirt!!

[JoeThePoster]

How do laundry shops make money ?

Well, the one in the OP is doing it by taking its customers to the cleaners.

[klubex99]

30 Baht for a shirt:

Washing is no effort and costs almost nothing in the washing machine.

ironing. I don't know how long a professional who is doing it all the day needs: 1 min?

I guess something between 45 seconds and 2 min.

Lets say 30 shirts per hour. 20 Baht profit, 10 Baht for electric washing powder, etc= 600 Baht per hour. Not great but the double of the minimum salary

That is huge money. 300 baht is daily salary not hourly.

600 B an hour for say 15 hours a day = 9000 a day. or 270,000 a month. If they are nowhere near that, 100K a month would be very good consider that is more than annual salary for most.

The local laundry house is possibly the richest family around our moo baan

Edited September 8, 2013 by klubex99

[mogandave]

30 Baht for a shirt:

Washing is no effort and costs almost nothing in the washing machine.

ironing. I don't know how long a professional who is doing it all the day needs: 1 min?

I guess something between 45 seconds and 2 min.

Lets say 30 shirts per hour. 20 Baht profit, 10 Baht for electric washing powder, etc= 600 Baht per hour. Not great but the double of the minimum salary

That is huge money. 300 baht is daily salary not hourly.

600 B an hour for say 15 hours a day = 9000 a day. or 270,000 a month. If they are nowhere near that, 100K a month would be very good consider that is more than annual salary for most.

The local laundry house is possibly the richest family around our moo baan

There are three of them working...

[cgphuket]

30 Baht for a shirt:

Washing is no effort and costs almost nothing in the washing machine.

ironing. I don't know how long a professional who is doing it all the day needs: 1 min?

I guess something between 45 seconds and 2 min.

Lets say 30 shirts per hour. 20 Baht profit, 10 Baht for electric washing powder, etc= 600 Baht per hour. Not great but the double of the minimum salary

"600 Baht per hour. Not great but the double of the minimum salary" Actually that is great money for a Thai. And the "proposed" minimum wage in Thailand is 300 baht for a 10 hour day, so 600 baht an hour is 20 times the minimum wage. Just saying...

[chuang]

They don't make money....they laundry money.....

[habfan]

My sister in-law who runs a guest house in Chiang mai started doing laundry for a few expat customers of the guest houses restaurant. This then snowballed to many more expats all along the soi as well as guests of the house. Now it's hard and hot work and yes sometimes she's still ironing well past 11:00pm but she says the money is just to good to cutback or stop.

[retell]

30 Baht for a shirt:

Washing is no effort and costs almost nothing in the washing machine.

ironing. I don't know how long a professional who is doing it all the day needs: 1 min?

I guess something between 45 seconds and 2 min.

Lets say 30 shirts per hour. 20 Baht profit, 10 Baht for electric washing powder, etc= 600 Baht per hour. Not great but the double of the minimum salary

they wish they get 300 Thb per hour its 300 per workday of XX?? hours minimum wage

and usualy they charge per kilo for laundry

[Mudcrab]

30 Baht for a shirt:

Washing is no effort and costs almost nothing in the washing machine.

ironing. I don't know how long a professional who is doing it all the day needs: 1 min?

I guess something between 45 seconds and 2 min.

Lets say 30 shirts per hour. 20 Baht profit, 10 Baht for electric washing powder, etc= 600 Baht per hour. Not great but the double of the minimum salary

they wish they get 300 Thb per hour its 300 per workday of XX?? hours minimum wage

and usualy they charge per kilo for laundry

Dunno...have to ask the missus. now if we want to discuss something far more important such as mowing the grass.....ask the missus

Edited September 8, 2013 by Mudcrab